Wala' Alsmadi and Zakaria EL Baba

“If we expect the peace we’re building to outlive us, we must be actively passing it on by crossing generational borders – building peacebuilders who can continue that process.”

Wala’ and Zakaria are peacebuilders working with Generation For Peace, empowering Middle-eastern youth through arts and sports. This experience made them realize that we must cross borders of impact, borders of expectation and borders of generation to create peaceful societies.

Geneva Peace Talks 2018. Recorded at the Palais des Nations on September 21, 2018.

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Wala' Alsmadi and Zakaria EL Baba

Wala’ and Zakaria became part of Generations for Peace (GFP) in 2016 and 2017, respectively. Wala is from Jordan and has been involved in volunteer work for the past 13 years. She joined GFP because of its focus on fostering young leaders through sports and arts programs. Wala’ realized that this type of focus allowed participants, who had experienced violence and loss, to utilize their life experiences in a creative and constructive way. A year later, Zakaria, a Lebanese citizen who is also passionate about empowering youth, received training to lead a project to promote respect for human rights through sports and arts in partnership with GFP. One of the most memorable experiences Zakaria had while leading this project, was successfully preventing an early marriage for a 16-year-old female participant. In their work with GFP, Zakaria and Wala’ are constantly inspired by the individuals they work with to continue working towards fostering young peacebuilders.

Former United Nations Secretary-General and Nobel Peace Prize winner Kofi Annan was interviewed by Ahmad Fawsi, former Communication Advisor and Chief Spokesperson for the High Commissioner for Refugees, during the Geneva Peace Talks 2017. During the interview, Kofi Annan spoke about his constant fight for peace and shared a message of hope to youth worldwide.

This video is an excerpt of the 25-minute interview recorded at the Palais des Nations on September 21, 2017, focusing on Kofi Annan’s reflections for youth on leadership for a peaceful future.

“What allows us to interact and be authentically close to others is the fact of being well within our own borders – family-related, sexual, religious, cultural, geographic, racial, etc. The more anchored and solid these internal barriers are, the less humanity needs to build external borders.”

Psychotherapist, Nino Rizzo, shares his perspective on a process that is often absent in discussions about peace: the development of internal borders. Nino explains that developing clear and solid internal borders prevents us from creating and constructing external – and often violent – borders.

Geneva Peace Talks 2018. Recorded at the Palais des Nations on September 21, 2018.